# 476 - Old and New Country Sights

Moving out of the Greater Houston area to the country has been quite a culture change. Even though Houston is approximately one and half hours away, we are far enough away to make life much more peaceful and very different.

Downtown Livingston has a great mix of old and new buildings, both retaining historic architecture. I must say that the historic architectural committee in town is doing their job.

One building I love is the Polk County Courthouse.

Here is another building that has external metal beam supports that have been painted to blend in with the surroundings. It is nice that the construction of the beams and installation were thoughtful enough to make the beams interesting.

 

To be honest, it has always been a dream of mine to own one of these historically rich buildings in the heart of town, to run some sort of business at ground level and to live above in loft-style accommodations, or to at least have a sleep over pad ready at all times. It would be nice to have a place in the middle of it all, but not on the Downtown Houston congested level.

 

And let's be blunt, in a major metropolitan area, you have freaks on the street. In the downtown center of a country town...not so much.

 

 

Here are a row of buildings located just behind the Polk County Courthouse that are rather new construction, but built with respect to the area's historic architecture. I love it!

 

Of course, there are huge differences between living in a large city and a small country town. Mostly, we lack an almost unending variety of restaurants and shopping. Last weekend, Shaye and I had fun going to Walmart and listening to the high school band play music outside in their effort to raise money for a trip to D.C.

 

 

Yes, we contributed. It was a HOT day and those kiddos were playing music and selling BBQ. 

 

Even though we don't have big city conveniences, our small town does have a nice Walmart, an HEB, Brookshire Bros., Lowe's, Sonic, El Burrito, Taco Bell, MacDonald's, Jack in the Box, Whataburger, Burger King, Subway, Pizza Hut, Little Caesars' Pizza, Bodacious BBQ, Joe's Italian, a CVS, Payless Shoes, Radio Shack, Dollar Tree, and a few other places we've not yet tried that makes life easier.

 

However, out of all the stores available in Livingston, I am very grateful to have a Palais Royal here in town! They city girl in me clings to that Palais Royal in the hopes that a few more nice restaurants and stores will eventually make their way around this area. Oh yes, we do have an Outlet Mall that I've not yet visited. 

 

The one Southern restaurant with a drive-through that we really miss is Dairy Queen. Obviously, there was a Dairy Queen near the center of town, once upon a time, but it appears to have been set too far back to benefit from townies needing a bite to eat.

 

 

I sure could go for a Blizzard.

 

Well, I am about to sign off. But, I want everyone to know that we've gone from such hot days, mostly in the high 90's to even about 100 degrees, to much more tolerant weather. Saturday, it felt so great that I used the hand-hoe to dig a few rows in my brand new vegetable garden, and I planted lettuce and broccoli. Sunday, I'll dig a few more rows and get some more seeds in the ground for a Fall harvest. Tonight, it's already 62 degrees and tomorrow should be in the 80's again. Heaven for Southerners.

 

The past few days have been spent listening to the rain constantly pour down upon us to give our acreage a good soaking. Since we're still "living in between" with our temporary residence being an RV as we prep the land for home-building, I found it very nice to lay back and hear the rain tap, tap, tap on the roof of the RV. Sometimes, the best things in life come from simplicity.

 

 

We really needed this kind of rain, but I didn't like being in a Tornado Watch yesterday. I've already lived in a house hit by a tornado; it's a scary event. Thank God, no tornadoes came our way.

 



 

Life holds such beauty, and I gladly take time to notice it and savor it. Thank you Lord for loaning this piece of dirt to me! I hope 2014 will find a new home waiting for us to bounce new memories off the walls.